As y’all may know, I have always felt a little different. Like an outsider. People in the 80s may have called me a ‘nonconformist’. But as an adult I have learned that many people feel this way, at least some of the time. And, like I say in Episode 20: We all feel different (But we’re all the same), we all suffer from the imposter syndrome or feeling like we’re out of place. It’s universal.
Part of this, I think, is because we are ‘supposed’ to be different. The entire purpose of our DNA is to enable each individual human differentially equipped to respond to our changing environmental conditions. This, in short, provides the machinery for our species to persist through time. Things change, so we are equipped to change. Then, of course, the environmental conditions will select which traits (the unique stuff) work in the future, and unfortunately which ones do not.
The problem, then, isn’t that we are all unique. IN FACT, it’s the solution. The solution to our problems. So I’m wondering (and continuing to explore as part of a larger project) whether we are creating problems by not embracing our uniqueness. See, the pressures we feel that lead us to believe we are different are UNNATURAL. The world, society, our peers, our jobs, they are all imposing Unnatural selective forces that attempt to make us the same. Conformity rules in society.
Maybe that’s going a bit too far for this introductory episode, but hopefully you see the bigger picture.
I believe we need to stop trying so hard to conform, and instead take a long hard look at who we really are. If we can develop the aspects of our personalities that make us unique, think of what we can accomplish.
Podcast audio download here: https://pdcn.co/e/https://chtbl.com/track/CGDA9D/www.buzzsprout.com/530563/8094228-kew-episode-43-diversity-and-uniqueness.mp3?blob_id=36427267&download=true
YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/Wic8kNsrbs0
I am a white, straight, Christian, English woman who has been happily married to the father of BOTH my daughters for over 30 years. And I want to stay this way! Is that ‘diverse’ enough for you?!
YOUR diversity is YOURS and you can define it however you want! If I can add anything it would be that you described maybe 5 or 6 elements of what is an extremely complex life with many, many other elements that contribute to diversity and your uniqueness. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!